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Issue: 307

January 15, 2009

Guest Commentary

Is Gaza A Testing Ground For Experimental Weapons?

By Jonathan Cook Guest Commentator

This article is republished with permission from The Electronic Intifada. Concerns about Israel’s use of non-conventional and experimental weapons in the Gaza Strip are growing, with evasive comments from spokesmen and reluctance to allow independent journalists inside the tiny enclave only fueling speculation. The most prominent controversy is over the use of shells containing white…

This article is republished with permission from The Electronic Intifada. Concerns about Israel's use of non-conventional and experimental weapons in the Gaza Strip are growing, with…

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Commentary

What The New Administration Might Consider To Benefit America

By John Funiciello Columnist

Over the past few months, there have been literally thousands of to-do lists for the incoming Barack Obama Administration to consider and, for certain, someone is duly noting all of them and weighing them for action and the setting of priorities. The big things have been addressed by large advocacy organizations and even some lawmakers:…

Over the past few months, there have been literally thousands of to-do lists for the incoming Barack Obama Administration to consider and, for certain, someone is…

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Commentary

Hip-Hop in the Crosshairs: Voices in the Wilderness (Part 2) – The Substance of Truth

By Tolu Olorunda Columnist

[Read Part 1, Part 3] At this crossroad, Hip-Hop is confronted by a plethora of problems. Though many critics are quick to heap scorn and castigation upon the culture, such analysis often fails to keep track of the best of what it has to offer. Internal critique of Hip-Hop, within the artist community, is not…

[Read Part 1, Part 3] At this crossroad, Hip-Hop is confronted by a plethora of problems. Though many critics are quick to heap scorn and castigation…

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Commentary

LAPD Never Met a Reform Report it Agreed with – Between the Lines

By Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, PhD Columnist

The nation’s most abusive, and aggrieved law enforcement agency, the Los Angeles Police Department, is still “doin’ what it do” as it presented its response this week to a racial profiling study released to its civilian Police Commission in October, 2008. The study, titled, “Racial Profiling & The LAPD,” documents that deep and pervasive racial…

The nation’s most abusive, and aggrieved law enforcement agency, the Los Angeles Police Department, is still “doin’ what it do” as it presented its response this…

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Guest Commentary

Goodbye to Bush in Three Minutes

By David Swanson Guest Commentator

Cindy Sheehan asked if I could record a 3-minute goodbye message to Bush and Cheney for her radio show, so I wrote down and read the following: Never more than in this moment, George, have you been a uniter, not a divider. The joy at your departure is world-wide and wonderful. But I don’t want…

Cindy Sheehan asked if I could record a 3-minute goodbye message to Bush and Cheney for her radio show, so I wrote down and read the…

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Guest Commentary

The Dream Merchants’ Fall – The Decline of Civil Rights Hegemony in the Age of Barack Obama

By T. S. Aschenge Guest Commentator

At approximately 6:45 A.M. on August 3, 1961, I began my global sojourn on terra firma out of the sacred enclave of my mother’s womb. What I was not understandably aware of at the time, was that on the following day several thousand miles away the future first Black President of the United States was…

At approximately 6:45 A.M. on August 3, 1961, I began my global sojourn on terra firma out of the sacred enclave of my mother’s womb. What…

Continue reading 13 min

Guest Commentary

Food Sovereignty: The Peasant and Small Farmer Association Movement in Mozambique

By Nic Paget-Clarke Guest Commentator

Mr. Paget-Clarke recently returned from Niassa and Maputo Provinces in Mozambique. Being in a field in southern Niassa province, in Mozambique, listening to a group of women and men members of a peasant and small farmers’ association sing a cappella while they wield their hoes is both thrilling and supremely humbling. Particularly when you realize…

Mr. Paget-Clarke recently returned from Niassa and Maputo Provinces in Mozambique. Being in a field in southern Niassa province, in Mozambique, listening to a group of…

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Commentary

Federal Prosecutions Of War Criminals – National Affairs

By Lawrence R. Velvel, JD Columnist

Renditions For Torture Infamously, prisoners were “rendered” to other countries for torture. Men were kidnapped off the street, hooded, shackled, sedated by anal suppositories or syringe injections, dressed in jump suits, and flown by private Gulfstream jets (registered to dummy corporations) to countries such as Egypt, Syria and Uzbekistan to be tortured at the behest…

Renditions For Torture Infamously, prisoners were “rendered” to other countries for torture. Men were kidnapped off the street, hooded, shackled, sedated by anal suppositories or syringe…

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Guest Commentary

Film Review: Revolutionary Road

By Eric Mann Guest Commentator

Drama. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Directed by Sam Mendes. “Revolutionary Road” is an important, gripping, must-see film. The dynamics between April Wheeler (played by Kate Winslet) and her husband, Frank Wheeler (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) are painfully and vividly gripping. This is the tragedy of suburbia and women’s oppression inside the suburban, nuclear…

Drama. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Directed by Sam Mendes. “Revolutionary Road” is an important, gripping, must-see film. The dynamics between April Wheeler (played by…

Continue reading 7 min

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